PRP therapy can help treat osteoarthritis

Are you thinking about getting surgery for osteoarthritis, but you're hesitant to do so because of its invasive nature. We're not shocked. While surgery can be a perfectly viable means to repair damaged ligaments or other areas of your body, there's a lot of risk involved both during and after the procedure.

Instead of surgery, we have another suggestion: PRP therapy.

Thousands of people have used PRP therapy to repair painful injuries, and the results have been phenomenal. Some athletes who have used PRP are top names in their respective sports such as Hines Ward, former NFL wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Kobe Bryant, former NBA star for the Los Angeles Lakers.

"PRP therapy is an easy,

non-invasive procedure."

Why have these athletes and many others used PRP therapy? Dr. Shuba Dharmana, cosmetic dermatologist, hair transplant surgeon and founder/CEO of LeJeune Group of MedSpas, said it's because it's an easy procedure.

"PRP is a simple, non-surgical treatment that uses cutting-edge technology with the body's natural ability to heal itself. It involves extraction and centrifugation of the blood that allows platelet-rich plasma to separate. Platelets contain hormones that promote growth and healing," said Dharmana, according to the Deccan Chronicle.

Dr. Bradley Nelson, a physician at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine, noted to Fox Sports that "some people are injecting (PRP) into the knee joints in patients who have early osteoarthritis, and they can feel better." One athlete who did so was Brandon Roy, who suffered from cartilage deterioration in both knees. His condition was so serious that doctors warned him against continuing to play basketball due to the potential long-term health effects.

He retired, but he soon returned after undergoing a successful PRP treatment.

Although PRP therapy won't regrow missing cartilage, it can help a person better manage pain.

"It does not grow new cartilage," said Nelson. "It does not reverse the course of cartilage damage. It just helps with the pain associated with arthritis."

New advancements in osteoarthritis PRP therapy
Brandon Roy's PRP treatment took place roughly four years ago, and PRP medicine has continued to progress since then. Scientists recently investigated the feasibility of combining PRP with hyaluronic acid, a natural substance in the body that people typically take to treat joint disorders such as osteoarthritis.

The researchers found that a combination of PRP with this acid could help those that have the condition. It's certainly a breakthrough and one that "presents useful insights on the viscoelastic and biological properties of HA/PRP combinations," noted researchers, according to Orthopedics Today Europe.